We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Laura Reiss a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Laura, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
I first conceptualized what Kindness Matters 365 (KM365) is today in 2008. I had three young daughters and noticed something was missing in their formal education. There was a need to guide kids in discovering how to best take care of themselves, each other, and our world. I wanted my children to be in a community where kind people and kindness surrounded them. I went to our local elementary school and asked if I could start a free afterschool program where I taught the children about the importance of taking care of themselves, each other and giving back—contributing where they wanted to and where they could. The school gave me the green light, and I formulated a model for how I envisioned the program to run, then got to work. Some of these kids had no idea about their self-worth, power, their value. And I was afforded the privilege of being there with and for them, connecting and engaging, supporting and seeing them transform and thrive.
Whenever we met in those initial Kindness Meetings, we brought in a different speaker or organization to share how they were doing their part to give back to our communities. The children would engage in hands-on, age-appropriate projects that gave back to these organizations and foundations. And they loved it. This first program was so successful. Word spread, and soon other parents and other schools were reaching out; everyone wanted a Kindness Program at their school. I realized I was on to something bigger than I’d imagined.
So step by step and with tremendous support, I began formally establishing a foundation that supported our kids to build the strength of character and emotional well-being to feel good, handle a challenge, flourish in school and be leaders in our communities. I created a program model that could be used and expanded in every community and for all children, and slowly but surely, we began to grow and gain traction here in South Florida and throughout the country.
It didn’t happen overnight; it took a lot of work, effort, and patience. But in 2014, the Kindness Matters 365 Foundation (KM365) became a formally established 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to supporting the emotional wellbeing of children and teens. I created an Ambassador training program to teach kind-minded individuals the model so they could run their clubs. I invited people into my home for monthly training meets, put together an Executive Board, and the KM365 Kindness programs started popping up all over South Florida.
Flash forward to 2019: pre-pandemic, we had over 100 programs in twelve states nationwide, educating thousands of children each month in our afterschool Kindness Clubs and Kindness-in-School classroom programs, pre-k through college. Things changed dramatically, positively, and tremendously after bringing the Kindness Matters 365 programs into the schools. It’s such a joyous atmosphere, sitting together, engaging and connecting in meaningful ways, putting kindness into actionable service. When the children were learning, the adults were learning. I could see and feel the transformations that were taking place. A lot of the educators we work with agree you can never have enough time to teach kids empathy, so for us to wrap that into a club was just a win-win.
I genuinely believe that anything is possible. Global Kindness is possible, and it starts here and now with our children and us. It takes a village, and we would not be where we are if it wasn’t for the support of our Kindness Family. Everyone who has shown up, volunteered, became an Ambassador, worn our merch, and stuck our magnets on their cars; everyone who follows our social media, donates to our programming, and attends our events helped make KM365 what it is today. I want to leave this world better than I found it, and through building KM365 and the work we do, I have found my true purpose.
Laura, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
To say it’s difficult growing up in these times would be an understatement. There’s a lot of stress, anxiety, intolerance, and bullying. The climate we live in today makes what we’re doing that much more significant.
I started the Kindness Matters 365 Foundation because I believe that all children should live in a world filled with gratitude, compassion, and kindness. A world where kids and teens have emotional well-being; where they feel supported and accepted; where they develop the skills to cope with challenges and achieve their full potential. Through education and community engagement, KM365 guides kids and teens in exploring and discovering how to care for themselves, each other, and our world.
People have asked, time and time again, what credentials made me qualified to dream up this Foundation. The truth is, I was fortunate to have parents who raised me well; loving, encouraging, incredible parents who modeled for me what it meant to be grateful, compassionate, and kind. Then, I raised my children with those same values and parlayed those life experiences into our KM365 program. The data, testimonials, and our growth demonstrate how it is working! Through KM365, we aim to support all children with the essential life skills and experiences they can use to grow with purpose and achieve every success they dream for themselves. If we take the time to guide, support, listen, lead, and genuinely love our children, the result is kind, compassionate, well-adjusted human beings. It takes patience and work but doesn’t that apply to anything worth it?
I am so proud of who and where KM365 is today. We have 13 years of success as a multi-dimensional educational program of onsite and virtual school clubs, teacher/parent workshops, and community service. We developed a formalized approach to teaching kindness that bolsters cognitive intelligence and provides the opportunity to practice skills through community engagement. As participants in KM365 programs, children and teens actively develop life skills, resiliency, healthier relationships, safer environments, and stronger communities. They collaborate with local charitable organizations to provide direct service in-community with neighbors. They donate their hair, paint and build houses, collect items for organizations in need, package food for the hungry, make cards for soldiers—and so much more.
Our programs address a gap in traditional education. Our focus is on self-awareness, self-regulation, growth mindset, and service learning. These vital life skills result in more resilient and healthier students, better relationships, safer environments, and stronger communities while helping them become the best version of themselves. Our unique three-phase approach teaches kindness to yourself, each other, and the community. These learning initiatives are proven to be effective in helping to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression – all of which contribute to bullying, dropping out of school, teen suicide, and school shootings. Our work is needed now more than ever.
KM365 educates young developing minds and teaches kids to be leaders, not bullies. Our programs provide the resources and tools necessary to help transform kids from feeling worthless to worthy, isolated to included, fearful to empowered, intolerant to kind. We contribute to creating a kinder, safer, more inclusive world by putting our programming into the hands and hearts of children of all ages, abilities, and demographics. Together, we help our kids navigate this crazy, beautiful thing called life and emerge as resilient, empowered, compassionate, and KIND human beings who know they matter.
Together, we have made, and we will continue to make, a profound, positive impact on the world, one child, one family, one school, one community, one state, one country at a time. The work we do now will ensure a better future. I believe in a world where we celebrate and support each other, and I manifest it every day. With a heart filled with gratitude for the many accomplishments of our KM365 Foundation and knowing we have so much more to do, my commitment is that our children and their children’s children are raising families in a better world.
Laura, please share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience.
I believe in the human spirit and all individuals’ greatness. We all have this; it looks different for each of us as we are all on our own unique, personal journeys through life’s many lessons. I believe that we, as human beings, have good in us, and we need the support, education, tools, tips, and techniques necessary to confidently and powerfully get through this thing called life.
I remember when “Jake the bully” walked into that first Kindness Meeting back in 2009. Of course, I welcomed him with open arms as I did all of the participants; however, I judged and labeled him in the stereotypical sense: a bully. I had to look at myself long and hard, get past my preconceived notions and judgments and reground myself in the core basics and belief of the greatness in humanity—ALL humanity.
Initially every time we met Jake consistently lived up being a bully. He was disrespectful, attention-seeking, and out of line more than most of the time. It took a lot of effort and, frankly, a lot out of me to continue to treat him with the same respect, patience, and love as the other participants. Still, I turned inward and checked myself. Every time we got together, I made sure to show Jake extra compassion, patience, and love, reminding myself of his innate potential for greatness.
The children learned about taking care of themselves as the months went on. We introduced them to the many different organizations and ways to give back to all of the people in our community who could use our support and love. It didn’t happen right away, but I began to see Jake slowly starting to come around; he was evolving. It was one meeting in particular that changed everything. We had a speaker from Camp Boggy Creek, which fosters a spirit of joy by creating a free, safe, and medically-sound camp environment that enriches the lives of children with severe illnesses and their families. Boggy Creek’s Mrs. Chiera spoke about the importance of what they do and why the simplicity of spreading love and happiness to raise the spirits of these sick children mattered.
Towards the end of the meeting, Jake raised his hand and asked a question that would stay with me forever: “Is there any more room at the camp this coming summer for my sister?” He explained to the speaker she had cancer, and he wanted to know if there was a spot left for her so she, too, could have a fun experience and forget about being sick for just a little.
Words can hardly describe how pivotal this moment was not only for Jake but also for me and many others in attendance. As his teachers, administrators, and peers had no idea how badly Jake was struggling in his young life, we finally really understood him and his previous behaviors at that moment. We never know what’s happening behind closed doors or in a child’s world. We must continue to share patience, love, respect, and the belief in the human spirit and all individuals’ greatness. By the end of the year, Jake emerged a confident, well-adjusted, communicative, resilient child – opening doors for his teachers, getting along far better than ever with his peers, and saying hello in the halls.
My experience with Jake tested my resolve. It made me question what I was doing here in this school, running a Kindness program. I was labeling and judging, struggling with my intentions, battling myself over how to open my arms and heart to this so-called bully until that pivotal moment of transformation. The moment Jake showed me that everything I was doing here mattered; everything I was doing here was making a difference with these kids; and everything I was doing here was needed everywhere, for all of our children.
Jake’s story is one of many that remind me I have found my life’s calling. Still, he’s also one of the millions of children in this world trying to find their way, to navigate their purpose in the face of challenges and struggles beneath the bully façade or the surface. We have the choice to let life’s challenges and struggles define us for good or worse, and I thank Jake and all of the Jakes I’ve met along the way for helping to remind me that what we do is important; what we do makes a difference; what we do matters.
The work that we do at KM365 changes lives. I’ve personally witnessed it, and it never ceases to inspire and amaze me. I must stand for these children every day – it is my passion, my purpose, and it supports our kids’ growth and development and my own. Ultimately this organization is about creating the potential for a better future for our world – one child, family, school, county, and country at a time.
My dear friend, Linda Hampton, once said, “My dear, you are planting seeds for a forest of trees that you will not be shaded by.” It gets me every time, but it’s so true. What we do is as much for us as for these children and paves the way for a better, kinder, more inclusive world for generations to come.
Have you ever had to pivot?
As it did for everyone, the pandemic created challenges for us. Our 100-plus programs were onsite in schools, and schools were closed; simultaneously, reaching children to support their emotional wellbeing, community service, and taking care of ourselves and each other was never more important. Our foundation beautifully evolved to address current needs and build for the future during and since the pandemic. Like most small businesses and organizations, we had to pivot and transform in a big way.
We developed an entirely new model and approach to continue to get our vital programs in the hands of children and teens who needed them more than ever. We learned how to provide our programming online and created our Kindness Anywhere virtual online program, an accessible model that is still tremendously successful today.
As we approached the end of the turbulent 2020/21 school year—one that our youth and educators faced bravely, boldly, and with abandon—we saw a silver lining. That silver lining was our children’s resiliency and ability to think optimistically, part of a skillset fostered by our programs.
Pandemic aside, as with any small business or foundation, we experience day-to-day challenges—funding, human resources, establishing measures that quantify our impact, expanding our outreach and efficacy—for which we must constantly evolve and pivot to adapt and overcome. One of the ways we learned to address these and many of the more constant challenges is to partner with our community for support. We are also beyond grateful for the generosity of our incredible donors and grantors – support that significantly impacts so many children always and especially during challenging times.
We rely on our outstanding Executive Board, which has grown to ten strong. We implemented a solid Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative to which our foundation is committed. We’ve expanded our school-based clubs, virtual programs, and online Resource Library; we’ve trained new Ambassador leaders and developed our Teen Leadership program further. We created an Advisory Council of diverse and talented professionals who advise and guide us along our way.
There are many ups and downs in life, many highs and lows, and now I better understand the importance of learning through the challenges and celebrating progress. Adapting, evolving, and pivoting in the face of challenges are all part of the human experience and what supports our growth and development.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I believe in the human spirit and all individuals’ greatness. We all have this; it looks different for each of us as we are all on our own unique, personal journeys through life’s many lessons. I believe that we, as human beings, have good in us, and we need the support, education, tools, tips, and techniques necessary to confidently and powerfully get through this thing called life.
I remember when “Jake the bully” walked into that first Kindness Meeting back in 2009. Of course, I welcomed him with open arms as I did all of the participants; however, I judged and labeled him in the stereotypical sense: a bully. I had to look at myself long and hard, get past my preconceived notions and judgments and reground myself in the core basics and belief of the greatness in humanity—ALL humanity.
Initially every time we met Jake consistently lived up being a bully. He was disrespectful, attention-seeking, and out of line more than most of the time. It took a lot of effort and, frankly, a lot out of me to continue to treat him with the same respect, patience, and love as the other participants. Still, I turned inward and checked myself. Every time we got together, I made sure to show Jake extra compassion, patience, and love, reminding myself of his innate potential for greatness.
The children learned about taking care of themselves as the months went on. We introduced them to the many different organizations and ways to give back to all of the people in our community who could use our support and love. It didn’t happen right away, but I began to see Jake slowly starting to come around; he was evolving. It was one meeting in particular that changed everything. We had a speaker from Camp Boggy Creek, which fosters a spirit of joy by creating a free, safe, and medically-sound camp environment that enriches the lives of children with severe illnesses and their families. Boggy Creek’s Mrs. Chiera spoke about the importance of what they do and why the simplicity of spreading love and happiness to raise the spirits of these sick children mattered.
Towards the end of the meeting, Jake raised his hand and asked a question that would stay with me forever: “Is there any more room at the camp this coming summer for my sister?” He explained to the speaker she had cancer, and he wanted to know if there was a spot left for her so she, too, could have a fun experience and forget about being sick for just a little.
Words can hardly describe how pivotal this moment was not only for Jake but also for me and many others in attendance. As his teachers, administrators, and peers had no idea how badly Jake was struggling in his young life, we finally really understood him and his previous behaviors at that moment. We never know what’s happening behind closed doors or in a child’s world. We must continue to share patience, love, respect, and the belief in the human spirit and all individuals’ greatness. By the end of the year, Jake emerged a confident, well-adjusted, communicative, resilient child – opening doors for his teachers, getting along far better than ever with his peers, and saying hello in the halls.
My experience with Jake tested my resolve. It made me question what I was doing here in this school, running a Kindness program. I was labeling and judging, struggling with my intentions, battling myself over how to open my arms and heart to this so-called bully until that pivotal moment of transformation. The moment Jake showed me that everything I was doing here mattered; everything I was doing here was making a difference with these kids; and everything I was doing here was needed everywhere, for all of our children.
Jake’s story is one of many that remind me I have found my life’s calling. Still, he’s also one of the millions of children in this world trying to find their way, to navigate their purpose in the face of challenges and struggles beneath the bully façade or the surface. We have the choice to let life’s challenges and struggles define us for good or worse, and I thank Jake and all of the Jakes I’ve met along the way for helping to remind me that what we do is important; what we do makes a difference; what we do matters.
The work that we do at KM365 changes lives. I’ve personally witnessed it, and it never ceases to inspire and amaze me. I must stand for these children every day – it is my passion, my purpose, and it supports our kids’ growth and development and my own. Ultimately this organization is about creating the potential for a better future for our world – one child, family, school, county, and country at a time.
My dear friend, Linda Hampton, once said, “My dear, you are planting seeds for a forest of trees that you will not be shaded by.” It gets me every time, but it’s so true. What we do is as much for us as for these children and paves the way for a better, kinder, more inclusive world for generations to come.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kindnessmatters365.org/ (km365.org)
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kindnessmatters365/ (IG @kindnessmatters365)
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kindnessmatters365org/ (FB @kindnessmatters365org)
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kindness-matters-365/about/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kmatters365
- Youtube: Kindness Matters 365 YouTube
- Other: Laura Reiss: https://www.facebook.com/laura.w.reiss/ https://www.instagram.com/laurawaldorfreiss/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-waldorf-reiss-92356480/ https://twitter.com/waldorfreiss
Image Credits
Mia Lynn Photography Andrea Blakesberg Photography Max Duckworth Photography Nilaya Sabinis Photography